A Ghost Tale for Christmas Time

Book Title: A Ghost Tale for Christmas Time

Author(s): Mary Pope Osborne

Illustrator/Photographer/ Artist: Sal Murdocca

Publisher: Random House Children’s Books

Copyright Date: 2010

Genre: Folktale

Brief Annotation: Jack and Annie are on another adventure. This mission this time sends them back in time to help the writer Charles Dickens. They see Charles has a mansion and everything he needs. Charles Dicken’s ends up having to rescue Jack and Annie from jail. That is when they discover his sad memories that haunt him. Mr. Dicken’s is ready to give up writing for good. Until Jack and Annie invent the idea of pretending to be the three well known ghosts from his Christmas Story.    

Your Rating (1-5) and Why: I rate this a five, it is a great blending of the story we know in The Magic Treehouse style I love.

Readers who will like this book: I think this is a good story for anyone two to adult.

Question to ask about this book before you read aloud: Do know any Magic Tree House books?

The Boxcar Children

Book Title: The Boxcar Children

Author(s): Gertrude Chandler Warner

Illustrator/Photographer/ Artist: David Cunningham

Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company

Copyright Date: 1924, 1942, 2005

Genre: Contemporary realistic fiction

Brief Annotation: This is where the story of the Alden Children first begins. Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny are all siblings that run away from an orphanage together. They find a stray dog and make him part of their family. They also happen upon an old boxcar and decide to make it their home. The use things they find at the dump and outside as furniture and tools. They use their teamwork and resourcefulness to keep the family fed. When one of the children falls ill, they decide to seek help and end up getting a job helping someone in town. They eventually find their grandpa Alden.

Your Rating (1-5) and Why: I rate this book a five. It was an exciting book and really gripped the children’s imagination.

Readers who will like this book: I think most elementary school age kids will like to think about what it would be like to live on without an adult.

Question to ask about this book before you read: Have you ever thought what life would be like if you had to live on your own? How would you feed yourself? Where would you live?

Harlem

Book Title: Harlem

Author(s): Walter Dean Myers

Illustrator/Photographer/Artist: Christopher Myers

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Copyright Date: 1997

Genre: Poetry

Brief Annotation: Harlem is a poem that talks about the colors, sounds, and feelings of taking the A Train down to Harlem. The illustrations are a combination of ink, gouache, and collage, which really add to the hodge-podge multi-culture feel of the book. 

Your Rating (1-5) and why: 2--The poem does not flow well page-to-page, which makes me think that it would be difficult to read to a group of young students. Splitting students into smaller groups to examine parts of the story would be more manageable, but as a read aloud I would not choose it.

Readers who will like this book: Readers who will like this book are those who are fascinated by in-depth illustrations. Those who are auditory listeners may enjoy the rhythm, but those who read for story content or continuity will be disappointed.

Teaching Strategy from Tompkins or Yopp & Yopp (you'll link a strategy to at least 10 of your 40 books) : I would use a combination of Story Boards (Tompkins, p. 116) and Gallery Walks (Tompkins, p. 38) for this book. I would split up each two-page section that describes an aspect of Harlem per small group and ask them to look at the illustrations that accompany the words. If they would illustrate the same way, then try to replicate it. If they would do it differently, go for it. We would then line up how our storyboard would look and talk about the feel we get from our book versus the actual book.

Question to ask about this book before a read aloud: Do you know where Harlem is? It's part of a big city, sort of like where we live. When you go into the city, what do you hear? What does it feel like to be part of such a big city?

List Awards: Caldecott Honor Book

Germs Make Me Sick!

Book Title: Germs Make Me Sick!

Author(s): Melvin Berger

Illustrator/Photographer/Artist: Marylin Hafner

Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers

Copyright Date: 1995

Genre: Non-fiction

Brief Annotation: The book talks to the kids as it explains that, sometimes, you go to bed feeling fine and then wake up feeling sick! This is because germs are around us everywhere we go. Without creating a new generation of hypochondriacs, this book does a great job of explaining what germs are, the most common spots to find them, how we catch them, and how we can try to stay away from them!

Your Rating (1-5) and why: 4--This is as good a book as I have found for explaining the concept of 'germs' to kids in my classroom. The book has great watercolor illustrations and frequently changes topic within the story so that there's always something new to look at and talk about as it pertains to our germs and our bodies. It's a little bit long, but can be used when talking about all aspects of health with young kids--from candy and cavities to covering our sneezes.

Readers who will like this book: In my experience, readers who will like this book are those who like to 'police' others in the classroom about using kleenex and covering their coughs. Other students who have had colds, coughs, and runny noses will hear things that have happened to them in this story

Teaching Strategy from Tompkins or Yopp & Yopp (you'll link a strategy to at least 10 of your 40 books) : Venn Diagrams (Tompkins, p. 129): Venn diagrams and T-Chartsare great to use with books that compare and contrast things. I would use a T-Chart for a class brainstorm post-reading to list things that Keep Us Healthy and things that Don't Keep Us Healthy.

Question to ask about this book before a read aloud: Before I read this book I ask who has had a runny nose or the 'sniffles and sneezes' before. Then I use a spray bottle to squirt some water into the air like I had sneezed--the kids watch it soak a piece of paper a friend holds in front of me. Then I 'sneeze' with the spray bottle again but hold a kleenex in front of the 'sneeze' and watch how much less water hits the paper. This could be done before or after reading the book.

Baseball Saved Us

Book Title: Baseball Saved Us

Author(s): Ken Mochizuki

Illustrator/Photographer/Artist: Dom Lee

Publisher: Lee & Low Books

Copyright Date: 1993

Genre: Historical fiction

Brief Annotation: This story of a young Japanese-American boy is told in first person as his family is relocated to an American internment camp during the 1940s. To keep spirits up, the Japanese-American families in "Camp" build a baseball field to distract and unite members of their culture during this dark period in American history. The young boy has never been a talented athlete, but he manages to channel his anger at the guards into his baseball game and ends up as a star. When his family goes back to their neighborhood and old schools post-1945 the young boy uses his new-found confidence to defy anybody to make him feel ostracized on a personal or athletic level.

Your Rating (1-5) and why: 4--I've never heard a story like this for children before. I'm a huge twentieth century American history buff, and I know that I would have liked this book even as a child. I like that it's told in first person and doesn't end after the families are released from the internment camps. The young boy carries the lessons he learned in Camp with him onward in life.

Readers who will like this book: Readers who are interested in history (obviously) will like this book. Rough patches in American history can be a difficult topic to tackle in the classroom, and I think the first-person delivery will function as a kid explaining what it felt and looked like to another 'kid' (the reader) will be very effective.

Teaching Strategy from Tompkins or Yopp & Yopp (you'll link a strategy to at least 10 of your 40 books) : Questioning the Author ( Tompkins, p. 88): This strategy teaches students to develop 'queries' to develop comprehension, rather than just fact recall after a story. Teachers can ask questions to tackle larger issues underlying what the author says verbatim, like "What is the author trying to tell us with this story," "Why is the author including this detail," or "Why do you think the author chose to write about this experience?"

Question to ask about this book before a read aloud: What sports do you all enjoy playing? What do you like about playing on a team? Can you think of some times having a 'team' around you would help you?

The Giver

Book Title: The Giver

Author: Lois Lowry

Publisher: Bantam Books

Copyright Date: 1993

Genre: Science Fiction

Brief Annotation: We meet Jonas, the story’s main character, as he approaches his twelfth birthday. In this society, turning twelve is met with much anticipation, excitement, and uncertainty. You see, when children turn twelve they are given their assignment – the work they will do for the rest of their lives. Twelves take some comfort in knowing that the Committee of Elders has been studying them closely to determine the most appropriate assignment, but the ceremony where assignments are given cannot come faster enough or be further away. Jonas lives in a society of “sameness” – there is no individuality or choice. There is no pain or fear in this society. Through the journey of Jonas and his assignment, many questions will stir inside you, challenge you, and perhaps make you see your own life a little differently.

Your Rating (1-5) and why: 5 – This class has made me aware of and given me the push to read so many fantastic books, and The Giver is one of those books. This is quite the page-turner. I found it to be creative and thought provoking. It’s so interesting to think what it would be like to live in a world as described in the book. There is so much wonderful content in here for discussion with students and it would be fun to hear their insights and reflections on this book. Plus, I loved the moment (because I didn’t see that answer coming) when you find out what’s going on with the apple – I gasped out loud and had quite a reaction to that aspect of their life. That was just the beginning of reveals and reactions to come.

Readers who will like this book: I think this book would be enjoyed by a broad range of early teens and teens (and adults). Even someone who typically doesn’t gravitate towards science fiction-type stories (like myself) will be captivated by this story.

Question to ask about this book before a read aloud: What if you could choose to live without pain and fear, would you? What if that also meant giving up knowing the feelings of love and joy?

Interest Level (age): 11-14

Grade Level Equivalent (grade): 5.9

List awards: Newbery Medal Book, ALA Best Books for Young Adults, ALA Notable Children's Book

Actual Size

Book Title: Actual Size

Author and Illustrator: Steve Jenkins

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Copyright Date: 2004

Genre: Picture Book – Concept Book - Size

Brief Annotation:

Jenkins recreates beautiful images of some of the world’s largest and smallest animals in their actual size!! Using a collage technique, the reader will get to see animals like the Giant Squid’s eyeball (12 inches across) and the jaws of the saltwater crocodile (two feet long). You’ll be anxious to see which wondrous animal pops up next!

Your Rating (1-5) and why:

5 – Too often we run in to pictures of caterpillars and sharks shown at the same scale. The fact that Jenkins’ animal pictures are all real life size representations adds that much more interest and validity to his work. All of the attention is on the pictures, with just a few words describing each animal. He leaves more detailed information about each animal he chose in the back – great for the beginning of a research project!

Readers who will like this book:

Animal lovers, scientists, and I think any child would find something to enjoy in this book.

Question to ask about this book before a read aloud:

Have you ever wondered what the actual size of a bear is? Or a crocodile? Or a gorilla’s hand?

1. Interest Level (age): K

2. Grade Level Equivalent (grade): 2.5